


In with the New

by Fallen_Ark_Angel



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 12:59:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6375718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallen_Ark_Angel/pseuds/Fallen_Ark_Angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somewhere between Soup Saturdays and clogged pool filters, Mirajane and Laxus find love. Or at least bone a lot. Which, really, isn't that the same thing? Sorta? Heh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In with the New

  


"I don't get why you like to smoke those."

Laxus only took a deep puff from his cigar then before blowing it out slowly. "It's relaxing."

"It's smelly," Mirajane commented as she went around the office, cleaning it up for him.

"Yeah, well, you get used to it. Besides, woman, you work in a damn bar," he grumbled slightly, avoiding staring too closely at her. "You should be used to it."

"Well, I'm not."

Grunt. An awkward beat fell over them again, if only for a moment, before slowly, Laxus cleared his throat. Then, cigar dangling from his mouth, he asked, "You do this for Gramps then?"

"Yes," she giggled as she continued to dust off the file cabinet. "Master likes it when I- I mean, the old Master did. Now you're Master, Laxus."

"I am."

"And I'll do whatever you like." She glanced over at him then with a grin. "If you don't want me to clean up your office, if you'd rather do it yourself or have someone else, then just say the word."

He took another puff before slowly saying, "No. It's fine. You do it weekly, you said?"

"Most of the time, yes. Occasionally more frequently, if I think it needs it," she said. "Tuesday is tidy up day though. And Sunday is file organizing day."

"File organizing day?" Another puff. Then another. "What's that?"

"When Master-" Again, she paused. "When Makarov used to talk about letters from the council and sorting through requests or writing apology letters to towns, he wasn't joking. It's serious business, Laxus."

Hn.

"I take care of a lot of it for him too," she said slowly. "And, I mean, if you need that sorta help-"

"I think I can handle my own damn job, Mirajane."

"Of course."

"Gramps was old," he grumbled. "That's all. I'm very capable of taking care of every aspect."

"Other than cleaning up your own office."

He took a deep breath before slowly saying, "You know, Mira, I am the Master now."

"Oh, no, I know. Just keeping things friendly."

Then she giggled.

He only reached out to pick up his headphones and ignore her for the rest of the time.

The past few days up to that point had been quite the whirlwind for Laxus. His grandfather was not doing well and, in a shocking show of faith, he handed the guild over to him.

Laxus, of course, had envisioned that day many times. Even after his rebellious stage, he still always held that dream, the one of taking over Fairy Tail and running it right. Though the vision of what that right was had changed, the desire never had. And, upon obtaining that long held reverie, even in those few days, Laxus had learned a lot.

Like that Makarov shirked a lot of his duties on Mirajane.

It wasn't surprising, really. He knew that the woman had thrown herself into working at the bar following the supposed death of her sister as a coping mechanism and Makarov readily handed the work off to her. He seemed to rather enjoy Mirajane and her innocent facade that she constantly portrayed.

But Laxus wasn't Makarov. He didn't want other people doing his job for him. He wanted to take all the heavy work. Lead the others. By example. Make all meetings with other guilds, guide the weak into becoming strong, and, yes, even doing his own paper work and dealing with the influx of requests himself. After all, it was a new era of Fairy Tail. The children had grown up and it was time for them to reign with him at the helm.

And that reigning did not include, what Mira coined, Soup Saturdays.

"What is this?" he asked when he arrived on Saturday to find a bowl of soup sitting on his desk in the back office. Frowning, he went to go read the note left on top of it. All it said was the specific type of soup it was, which helped with nothing. The loopy writing though and the signature at the bottom let him know the culprit.

"Mirajane," Laxus called as he walked out of the office and back to the bar area. It was before the guild officially opened and, as far as he knew, the two of them were alone. "Why is there…soup on my desk?"

She was behind the bar, wiping down the bottles, and only glanced over at him with a smile.

"It's Soup Saturday," she said, as if that should be obvious.

"Alright, well, I could pretend like I know what the hell that is-"

"Every Saturday," she explained as she went back to the bottles, "I make Master some a different type of soup. It used to be Stew Saturday, but eventually…I ran out of different stews to make. Of course, you have to know that it was Stew Saturday _Surprise_ back then, which explains, of course, why it was bad that I ran out of different ones to surprise him with, so we switched it, at first to Stew _and_ Soup Surprise, but after those seven years on Tenrou, we found that the price of beef had really jumped. Which, you have to understand, is his favorite type of stew. Which I know shouldn't be a big deal, but-"

"Mirajane," he groaned as he put a hand to his head. "It's only six in the morning. What are you trying to tell me?"

"Just that it couldn't be Stew and Soup Saturday Surprise because beef was too costly, so we dropped the Stew and, eventually, the Surprise because he got tired of guessing, so now, or then, I guess, since you're Master now, I would just write down on a note what type it was."

Laxus narrowed his eyes at her. Then he said slowly, "I don't like soup."

"Oh." Slowly, she turned around to face him. "Well, have you tried my soup? Because-"

"And I don't like…themes."

"…I don't-"

"You made Saturday into a theme," he explained. "There aren't any other…theme days, are there?"

"Well," she said slowly, "There's Fried Food Fridays, but that's only every _third_ Friday because, well, Master's cholesterol is so-"

"No more. Any of those. Or whatever other ones you have up your sleeves." Then he gave her a look. "I don't need all that stupid stuff that Gramps did. I'm not Gramps. And I don't need the same things he did. Anything special you did for my grandfather is over. His time as Master is over. You're just a barmaid now. Understand?"

Slowly, she nodded. Then he turned to walk off.

"Good. Then I take it we won't have anymore-"

"Does that mean that I can't-"

"Yes, Mira. Whatever it is, yes. You can't."

And, with that, he went back to his office and didn't talk to her for the rest of the day. He did, at some point, get a visit from his grandfather.

"What are you doing here, old man?" he grumbled as the man passed the table he'd taken up at in the bar area, not even stopping to pay respect. "Huh? Thought you were off at home dyin' or somethin'?"

Makarov stopped, only to glare at him, before saying, "If you must know, boy, I'm here for my soup. I suppose that Mirajane was too busy to deliver it to my house-"

"What are you talking about? That stupid Soup Saturday thing?" Snorting, he said, "I gave that junk to Bickslow."

"What?"

"She gave it to me. You know, 'cause I'm Master now?" Taking in his grandfather's face, Laxus saw that his sarcasm and joking wasn't registering. Makarov looked as if he were taking the jabs to heart. Sighing, he said, "Mira gave it to me this morning. You're welcome to it next week though. Just talk about it to her. I told her not to give that slop to me anymore. That, you know, we ain't the same."

For a moment, the two just stared at each other. Then, with a sigh, and a turn to head towards the bar and no doubt make that request of Mirajane, Makarov said, "No, I suppose we're not."

Which wasn't all bad. For all the fear the others had had about Laxus becoming the Master, there were certain perks. He really did seem to care about training the underlings (quite harshly in fact) as well as finally addressing the problem of teams destroying every town in their path. Stiff penalties were enacted for such things from that point forth.

Mostly towards Team Natsu, such as surrendering a large portion of their earnings as well as having to perform maintenance duties around the hall (although the latter was, at times, at a detriment, it did force them into watching themselves a bit more).

Quite honestly, Laxus was so busy with dealing with everything and becoming accustom to the day to day duties of a master that he didn't even notice that he was, very obviously, being snubbed by Mirajane Strauss at every turn.

Freed was actually the one to bring it up.

"I thought that you told me Mirajane did your filing?" the man asked one day as Laxus sat at the desk, going over a few papers, while the letter mage sat at the filing cabinet, organizing it. "Laxus?"

"That's what she told me," the man said around a cigar. "But the dang woman's flaked on me the past two weeks. Same with the damn janitorial work around here. Doesn't even clean up around the bar anymore! I think she's, you know."

"I know?"

"You know."

"I know what?"

The slayer only tossed a hand up in the air, waving it around. "Going through some of her, err, womanly troubles, yeah? She seems like the type to be unbearable when that goes on."

"For three weeks?"

"I don't know how Mirajane Strauss cycles, Freed."

"O-Of course. I just-"

"Besides," he went on after a puff of his cigar. "I got Bickslow scrubbin' toilets, you doin' the filin', and I'll find Ever something to effin' do eventually. And Gramps, apparently, was able to figure Mirajane out; I'm sure I'll be able to too. Either that or just fire her."

"W-What?" He almost dropped the papers in his hand. "F-Fire her?"

"Y-Yes," Laxus mimicked. Blew some more smoke. "Thinkin' about hirin' some younger women."

"You go too much younger than her and you'll be in quite a bit of trouble, Laxus."

"I'm not hiring them to sleep with!" Puff. Thought. Then, "Just to look at."

"Oh, jeez."

"Hmm." More thoughts. "Maybe keep Kinana on. And Mira's younger sister-"

"Do not be gross."

"She is more than of age by this point," the slayer complained. "And I was going to say I'd fire her too, anyhow. She mostly just fills in when we're busy. I say promote Kinana to head barmaid, hire two, young, hot women and we'll be set for a bit. No mages though. Bleh. Tired of stupid women mages trying to one up me."

Softly, Freed asked, "Is this about Erza?"

The slayer growled. "If I hear one more person say that she should have been Master instead of me, I'll snap!"

Too late.

After a few puffs of his cigar however, Laxus was able to relax into his seat and, speaking truthfully for once, he only said, "But firin' Mira would be a lot of work. And I could only see the lawsuits for those younger barmaids I want-"

"Surely you weren't planning on harassing them, Laxus," the other man asked in shock.

"Of course not!" He sat up then and glared over at his friend who just stared back with wide eye. "I meant paternity suits."

"You can't be serious."

"I can." Puff. "The risk of having two women pregnant around the same time that both work for me though is just terrifying, however. And think of the jealousy. And I am not father material."

"I've noticed."

Growl. "What was that, Freed?"

The man had, actually, mumbled that on accident and just turned a bright red before trying to change the subject.

"I was just… Perhaps Mirajane Strauss is upset with you."

That threw the slayer off. Enough that he didn't even take a puff of his cigar. Just blinked.

"Do what now?"

"You have removed a lot of her job, after all," Freed sighed, going back to his filing. "You told me yourself that you don't let her do paper work, accept requests, or even do her... _theme_ days."

Freed said the latter with the same detest that Laxus held for them. Still, the slayer only shrugged.

"That would sound great to me, if I were her," the man said. "Less responsibility. No longer having to get hit on by the creepy old man-"

"You know that Mirajane is quite...touched, to be it kindly." Or some weird form of the word. "She probably finds those things enjoyable...other than Makarov hitting on her, but-"

"I ain't got time to be dealing with those sorts of things, Freed," the man complained. "If she's such a child that she's trying to, like, confront me all non-confrontational like, then fuck her. What do I look like? A babysitter?"

"Perhaps you misunderstood the title of Master..."

"What was that, Freed?"

That time, the letter mage didn't even attempt to save face. Just jumped to his feet and rushed from the room, muttering out something about the floors in the bar area needing to be waxed or something.

Whatever.

Laxus actually put it all out of his mind. You know, until the pool's water got all buggy.

"Uh, boss?" Bickslow came walking into the bar area before opening one morning after finishing the mopping up around the place the man made him do (it was thoroughly annoying). "I think somethin's up with your pool."

"My what?" He was busy reading the paper and hardly glanced up.

"Your pool. The guild's pool? It looks a bit off..."

"What do you mean?" He dropped the paper quickly as Freed, who was sitting at the table with him, glanced up as well.

"I don't really know, see, as I'm not a pool person, per se," the seith said, coming over with his faithful five dolls trailing along behind. "I mean, sure, I got the perfect swimmer's body, but my poor Mohawk, well, chlorine just-"

"What," Laxus growled, "is wrong with the pool?"

"It just looks off is all. And it's sorta kinda overflowing in there-"

"What? You dope! Why wouldn't you lead off with-"

Freed, jumping up, was quick to say, "Who is that's in charge to the pool, Laxus?"

"In charge of it?"

Nodding, he asked, "Someone must take care of it's maintence. Right?"

"Uh...I don't… Mirajane."

He turned quickly, over to the bar, where she was lazily getting the register ready for the day. She just kept on humming, though she did glance up a bit.

"Who takes care of the pool?" he asked her.

"No one," the woman replied, going back to the register.

"N-No one?" Freed repeated to which she only nodded.

"Or, well, I did," she said slowly. "Before I was relieved of my duties."

"You… Why didn't you say something?" Laxus growled. "Doesn't it need, like, chemicals and stuff? Not to mention-"

"You said," the woman sang in a tone that sounded as if she were being cordial, but was so much so that it was obvious she was severely pissed off, "that I was a barmaid now. Just a barmaid. And-"

"I didn't say to neglect the rest of the damn building!"

She shrugged. "I figured the pool fell under your domain."

"Why would you-"

"It definitely has nothing to do with the bar, so-"

"Look, you simpleton-"

"Perhaps," Freed said loudly. He wasn't usually one to cut off his idol, but the time called for it, "we could worry about the pool for the time being? Do you know how to fix it, Mirajane? Or at least take care of it?"

"Yes, Freed," she said, obviously going through him instead of her current Master. "I can. Just give me one minute, okay?"

Laxus only stood there though, glowering at her.

All of that because he'd don't want her damn soup? Or Fried Foods Fridays? What kinda racket was that? He had to go along with all her goofy, psychotic desires or else she would flood his guildhall?

How did Makarov put up with that woman?

"You probably just hurt her feelings," Ever told him later that day when he stopped by her apartment to ask about it.

When it came to women, she was his go to. More over, she was the only woman that he could call a friend (follower, stalker, whatever) and was willing to give him that inside view.

"What? How?"

"I don't, Laxus. I mean, as you know, I don't have much a history with the Strauss family-"

"Oh, Ever, drop it; I've seen you and Elfman out togeth-"

"But," she went on, just as quickly, leaning across her kitchen table to stare him in the eyes. "I know that Mirajane is...different. And you know that she and Master Makarov were rather close. It probably feels as if you have pulled the rug out from under her feet. Not only does she now have to adjust to a new person being in charge, but she also can't do any of those cutesy little things she did for the last one any longer. I bet she enjoyed Shit Saturday."

Laxus blinked. "Soup Saturday."

"Does it really matter?"

Heh.

"Well, what should I do?" he asked. "Huh? Because, after the whole punishment for destroying towns thing, I think I'm on thin ice as far as favor with my underlings."

"And you care because-"

"I just do, Ever! And if I fire Mirajane-"

"Yeah, Freed mentioned something about hot younger women and, honestly," the woman sighed, going back to fanning herself with her hand fan, "I just don't think it's needed. At all. So don't do it."

"I wasn't being serious." Completely. "And the guild might mutiny. They're all in love with Mirajane."

They both shared a look then before, with a sigh, the woman of stone said, "You could always just, I don't know, apologize? Or eat her shit?"

"Soup."

"Whatever. Just suck it down and shut up."

"Oh, I bet you're just so good at sucking and shutting up about it, aren't you, Ever?"

"L-Laxus!"

"Well, I ain't!" He crossed his arms over his chest. "I respect the woman as a mage and I damn sure ain't gonna go fightin' with her for no reason, but this is my guild hall. She isn't going to intimidate me!"

"Then fire her."

"Did you not hear the part about mutiny?"

"But you just said that you were intim-"

"Shush, Ever," he ordered finally, glaring off. "I guess I'm just going to have to figure this one out on my own."

Or, rather, wait until the perfect opportunity presented itself to put the whole thing to bed.

"Here," Mira said one day, stalking into his office like it was nothing. Didn't even knock! If he wasn't in such shock over what she tossed down on his desk, he might have said something.

"What are these?" he grumbled as she turned to walk off. "Mirajane?"

Hardly glancing back at him, she said simply, "Tickets."

"Well fucking obviously." He growled that one. "But for what is what I want to know."

"A convention," she said simply. "Mast- Makarov had already reserved them before he retired."

"Why are there two?"

Shrugging slightly, she told him, "He hadn't been getting around very well his last few months, you know. I started going with him to other towns when he had a meeting with guilds and the such. So there's two. I'm sure you can get Freed or Bickslow to go with you. Or just toss the other."

Even as she was speaking the woman was headed to the door, leaving Laxus with next to nothing to make his move.

"Wait," he finally ground out, just as she was starting to open the door. "Mirajane."

"Hmmm? Master?"

"Did you...still want to go?"

And that got her to turn around. "In your place? I don't think-"

"No." And he took a moment too, to clear his throat, before sitting up as straight as possible and staring her straight in the eyes. He'd always been told that it was a position of power, behind a nice desk, but with Mirajane towering over him in that moment, it felt anything but. "With me."

Blue eyes clouded, she asked slowly, "Why would I-"

"I don't know. You were planning too before Gramps left, weren't you?" He gave her a slight shrug himself then. "What difference does it make if you still go with me? I mean, I won't, like, need your help with anything, but you can still use it as a chance to get away, can't you? Stay in a nice hotel?"

And she was narrowing her eyes at him for it, but couldn't find a single sign of trickery on his face. With a slight breath, she nodded her head.

"Yeah," she said as she turned to, finally, actually leave. "I guess it will be nice to get away."

Maybe for her. As he was sitting there, contemplating what he'd just done to bring about peace, he had to wonder if he wasn't, rather, offering up a chance for more trouble.

In fact, he considered this all the way to the day that he met Mirajane there at the train station, leaving the hall to Freed and the bar to Kinana until the two returned with Erza, of course, hanging around to truly keep the others in line. Laxus and Mirajane being gone at the same time just spelled out no guildhall being back when they returned.

Which wouldn't be wholly bad. Laxus had considered redecorating a bit.

He was thinking a large statue in his honor right there in the front of the hall.

Or was that too gaudy?

Hmmm.

The silence between him and Mirajane was odd to Laxus as they boarded the train. He and the woman had never been close, not truly, and usually just saw one another as respectable mages while staying the hell out of one another's way, but clearly, being put into one another's way had changed something.

He was no longer her beloved Master's grandson. Rather, he was the one taking the place of that beloved Master and, as it was turning out, her apparent fun ruiner.

And though he joked about it, the last thing that he honestly wanted to do was fire her from barmaid. Or have to ask her to just become a regular member and go back to taking jobs. Rather, he wished to keep her on as she was, if only for the time being, to offer up a smooth transition into what would, hopefully, be his everlasting (heh) reign.

Not to mention, he didn't want Fairy Tail to lose her as a mage in general. Honestly, she was one of the best out there. And he kinda liked having her behind the bar constantly, there in case something came up. If there was attack at the hall and Erza was gone (and, of course, Gildarts would be as well), then he wanted someone being there to back him up. And the she-devil was the next logical choice.

That being said, if things didn't get worked out on their trip, then he'd have to consider what it would mean to fire her. For one, it would put the rest on high alert. He wasn't his grandfather. At all. He was running a guild, not a daycare service. Mirajane could be as disgruntled as she wanted; he didn't care. But when she started messing with the day to day operations of his business, well, clout didn't roll over from one Dreyar to the next. They had no deep rooted history.

He'd get her out of there if he had to. And it was time for her to realize that.

"So," he tried once they were seated side by side on the train, her mostly staring out the window, though she did glance his way at the sound of his voice. "What do you plan to do when we get there? Since you won't be following me to meetings and things?"

"Probably shop," she told him truthfully. "I've been wanting to buy some new dresses for awhile now. And I think the hotel has a pool."

"Bet Gramps would have liked that."

"Why?"

"Well, you know, a pool? With young women?"

Mira made a face before going back to the window. Even scooted away from him. Him! As if he had said he would be the one to enjoy it!

"I just meant," Laxus continued because, for some reason, around Mirajane, he couldn't just shut the hell up, "that he would enjoy seeing-"

"Oh, no, I got it, thanks. I was just hoping we could leave things like that in the old era of Fairy Tail." And her tone had an air of superiority to Laxus. "I guess not."

That got under his skin. Big time.

"I'll have you know," he told her harshly, "that I have brought it up and have made it very clear to all those pervy guys in the guild that I ain't Gramps. Ain't got time for that shit. Scaring off all the young women in the guild. So there."

She just hummed and that was even more annoying and damn!

Maybe it was time to get those younger bar tenders…

Wait...did that make him like Gramps?

Was he just furthering the legacy?

Ugh. His head hurt. Horribly.

And they'd only been around one another for a half hour! Tops!

Finally he just put on his headphones and ignored her for a bit. The train ride was starting to upset his motion sickness, anyhow.

After arriving at the town, they immediately went to check into the hotel, Mirajane, being more familiar with their surroundings, leading the way. Neither spoke, really, until when they were ready to go their separate ways in the elevator up to their floor, off to their own rooms, he mumbled something in her ear about, after she got settled, to head over to his.

There were a few things they needed to discuss.

It took longer than he thought it would for her to do so. He was in the middle of changing into something appropriate for the conference when she knocked at the door.

"It's unlocked," he called out, busy slipping on a dress shirt. "Mirajane."

When she came in, it was with some sort of folder in her hand and wide eyes when she noticed his state of undress.

"Going somewhere nice?" she asked slowly to which he only frowned at her.

"The big dinner tonight," he explain. "For all the Masters?"

"Laxus, they're all basically old men," she said with a slight bemused grin. "None of them will be nearly this dressed up. Were you going to put on a suit jacket too? You'll look like a little kid to them if you do that."

Not one to be embarrassed (or at least not show it), he just shrugged before going back to buttoning up his shirt.

"What's in your hands?" he asked as she came to toss it onto the big bed he had in his room. "Mirajane?"

"I complied a list of all the Masters that you might not know and a description of them," she said simply. "As well as a list of the top mages from their guilds. For conversations."

And that made him glance at her, if only for a second before saying, "Thanks, I guess."

"Of course, Master."

"You were sorta like Gramps secretary, huh? Than just a barmaid?"

"I was whatever he needed me to be when he needed me to be it."

Laxus had no argument with that and only nodded slightly before gesturing over to the couch in the corner of his room.

"Have a seat then," he said, still getting dressed. He was in his boxers and, starting to get a bit bashful about that, rushed to finish with his shirt so he could go pull on some pants. Before it was going to be some nice ones, but after Mirajane's explanation of what the dress code for such a thing was, he was leaning towards a dark pair of jeans. "We have some things to discuss."

She seemed a tad apprehensive then, as if unsure of just what it was he wanted, but still went to do as he asked.

"See, Mirajane," he began, not facing her as he spoke, instead still staring in the mirror that hung on the wall, "I want things to go smoothly. For us all. I know that Gramps had a long tenure with Fairy Tail. And, obviously, not everything going to just transition over to me without a bit of a hassle. I'm a stickler, as you might guess, for perfection; I want Fairy Tail to be the best it can be. Don't you?"

"Of course. I-"

"Good." He glanced her way. "Then you understand that this silent opposition has got to be put to an end. Immediately."

"E-Excuse me?"

Looking back into the mirror, he said, "Gramps isn't gone, Mira. If you still want to play secretary to him, fine. Just do it off the clock. I meant what I said about his legacy being over. And you pouting about it ain't going to bring it back. I don't like those damn theme days, ain't going to, so get over it. And you're going to go back to doing the janitorial work. And the filing. It's, apparently, been a part of your job for some time. Either you take a pay cut for it being absent now or you get back to it. And you get on board with me as your master or you can find yourself a damn new guild to- Hey! Where are you going?"

"There's a whole convention of Masters going on in this very hotel conference room." Mirajane was headed right to the door. She was pretty dang good at it, it seemed. "I'm going to find one that appreciates me."

"What? Mirajane-"

"Goodbye, Master."

"You get back here, you little demon," he growled, finally finished with his shirt and able to rush over to grab her arm. "You don't get to walk out on me."

"Oh, yes, Laxus, I can." She jerked her arm right away. "I did those things for Master out of respect. Immense respect. And loyalty. My only job, the only one I got paid for, was to serve drinks. Always. And if you ever happened to look at the check you write me every week, you'd see that my pay reflects that. If you think for a second that I'm going to be forced into doing extra work for you, on the threat of a pay cut, then you can think again. I love Fairy Tail. I love Master Makarov. But I do not love you. And if it's time for me to bow out, then so be it. I've been thinking about getting serious about my music now for awhile. So, if you'll excuse me-"

"Damn it, woman, that was a negotiation tactic! I don't really want you to leave the-"

"Negotiation? You just threatened to fire me! That's not a negotiation!"

"Well, you always start with an extreme and then work your way down." Right? Right.

...Right?

Ugh.

"Down to what?" Mira asked with a frown, glaring up at her. "I'm not going to do all of those things if you're going to be a dick about them. Down to that? Because other than that, then forget it, Laxus."

"A dick?" He growled. "I'm not being a dick, Mirajane. And you sure weren't making these complaints when Gramps first handed the place over to me, so-"

"You weren't a dick then."

He really wished she'd find a different word.

"All that changed was I told you I didn't like your damn soup," he told her harshly. "And I don't. So if that's what this is about-"

"You said," she began, tone dark, "that you didn't want me to do those stupid things that I did for Master Makarov. That you were the new Master. So I don't do them. And now you're upset with me?"

"I meant the special foods, woman," he complained. "The theme days. Not the filing and cleaning and-"

"You said no more theme days," she clarified. "Tidy up Tuesday? Sorting the files Sunday? Water the Flowers Wednesday? Monitor the Pool Mondays? Those are themes. You said not to do them. And then you acted all rude to me when I was actually filing, so I just thought you didn't want me to anymore. You told me to be a barmaid. I was a barmaid. If you want something more, Laxus, all you had to do was ask. Not threaten me with losing my job."

And he just stood there too, staring. Then blinking. Then coughing. Heavily.

"Well," he began once he'd had a moment of thought. "I do want those then. The theme days. That involve maintenance around the guildhall. And whatever day is the bathrooms or whatever, get back on that...please. Bickslow and his babies are ruining the plumbing, I'm pretty sure. Not really clear on how, but I think he's flushing shit down the toilets to mess with me or something and… If I was rude, I'm sorry, alright? But I'm not Gramps. So don't do special stuff for me. Just take care of my hall for me. You're the best at it."

He just felt it too. The moment. Her big, blue eyes were staring up at him and he'd sorta just complemented her (if being good at cleaning up was a complement) and that (imagined) tension that (he) had built up between the two of them was there and felt palpable and there he was leaning forward to kiss her and, damn, Mira was shoving him away.

"What are you doing?" she hissed as he only blinked at her. Not one to blush (ever), Laxus just stared.

"I...I thought-"

"Did you call me here just to-"

"No! I was reading the moment."

"What moment?"

"You know," he said even though he didn't know, had no clue, he honestly hadn't even thought about sleeping with Mirajane (err, rather, not literally; no more than he considered the other women in the hall), and it had just been a spur of the moment thing. Honestly, it had. "The...the...sexual tension or whatever."

"What is wrong with you?" And she was right up against the door, one hand on it. "Is this your way of driving me out or something?"

"What? No. I just finished telling you how much I want you, didn't I?" Then he frowned. "Wanted you for the guild. Not to… I just thought that you were into it. That's all. Damn it, Mira, I was serious about that shit back on the train. About no more of that perv stuff that goes on and- And don't leave, alright? I just.. I'm sorry. Okay?"

And he was taking a step back then, only realizing in that moment that he never had put on any pants and, damn, maybe it was a good thing that he'd never hired those younger women. He was a total sexual harasser. Freed had good reason to be concerned.

Maybe it was just something about being the Fairy Tail Master that brought that out in people. In Dreyars.

Ugh. He felt oogy.

"You can go," he told her then, slowly heading over to his bed to take a seat. To Mirajane, in that moment, he looked like a little boy, waiting to be punished. Then again, he had, quite literally, been caught with his pants not even down, really, but rather completely out of the equation. "I'm...done. You can go and get on a lacrima and tell them all about how I tried to corner you in my room or whatever. Or just quit. Whatever it is that you want. I-"

"Oh, Laxus, knock it off." She even rolled her eyes. "Self pity does not suit you. Surely this isn't the first time you've been rejected."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked with a glare, lifting his eyes for a moment.

"I think it's obvious." Still at the door, where she could leave easily, Mirajane said simply, "If you're that brazen, to try to kiss me after we were arguing, then I'm sure you've tried and failed at it many times before."

"The sexual tension was at it's peak, only moments before," he argued. "I had to act. And you were looking at me with your eyes all… I just read the moment wrong, alright?"

"That can't ever work for you," she said with a frown. "Does it? Really? Because I'm pretty sure that all just garb dreamed up in books and stuff, Laxus. No woman really wants to be kissed or whatever it is you thought we were going to do in the middle of a fight. Especially one that's never even shown you that sorta of attention before. No amount of sexual tension can make up for that. Believe me." Then she frowned. "Which there was none, by the way. At all. I didn't even know that we were fighting."

"Oh, come off it," he grumbled. "You knew that you were trying to stick it to me. I was talking about the stupid food days, not the taking care of the guild days and you knew it. You had to have. And you've been far more lax about your schedule recently. You thought that you could be passive aggressive and that eventually I'd beg you to do your damn job."

"Or kiss me," she added, as if a jab. When he glared, she only said, "I'm joking. Gosh, Laxus, take a breath, alright?"

"No." Then he shook his head. "I mean, I can't. Now I've forever made things awkward between us-"

"Laxus, you're not even the only guy this month that's tried to kiss me in the guildhall, so-"

"Wait, what?"

She nodded. "Lisanna says it's because I come off as sweet and interested and dopey, so guys always think that I'm interested in them. But I'm not doing it on purpose. That's just how I am."

"Now," he grumbled.

"What?"

His eyes were on the ground again as he spoke. "How you are _now_. You're that way _now_. The Mirajane before Lisanna died would have kneed me in the crotch. For a multitude of things."

He wasn't sure what he'd get for bringing that up and, for a second, Mira's breath caught. Even if she was alive and well and fine, the mention of the supposed passing of her baby sister was still raw at times to the she-devil.

"Well," she said slowly, "the Mirajane before that was underage, so-"

"Mira."

Giggle. Then. For the first time in a long time. It made him lift his head too, taking note of her walking over to him as well.

"I'm not quitting, Laxus," she said softly, standing before him as he just sat there, staring. "Master."

Blink. Shift of eyes. Then, "Thank you."

For a long moment, they both just stayed perfectly still, her staring at him, waiting, but him refusing to return the favor. Then, just like that, she was turning to walk away once more.

But just like so many times before, he couldn't let her go. The woman had some kinda weird hold over him or something.

"Mira," he said softly, making her glance back at him. Clearing his throat, he said, "I...won't try to kiss you again. Just to get that out. Alright? It was weird, I know, and-"

"I'm just more concerned that that's your usual technique, honestly," she told him with a slight grin. "I thought you had more game than that, Laxus."

There. There it was. Just like that, she got him to growl and shove up for the bed.

"Damn it, woman," he hissed. "Can't you just let me apologize? Without insulting me?"

"Apparently not."

And he was glaring and she was looking at him and...and..

"This," she explained then, "is tension. Healthy tension. When my job is on the line? Not so much."

Narrowing his eyes, Laxus said, "So if I kissed you now instead of then-"

"What is with you and trying to kiss me today?"

"I did it once," he complained. "So I'd say nothing."

"Yeah, well, you weren't the one who was assaulted so-"

"Damn it, Mira, I-"

"I'm kidding." That time she even waved at him. "So just forget it, alright? I know I will."

Swallowing then, he nodded slightly before asking, "Are we good then? With...everything?"

"We're perfect."

For some reason though, she didn't leave that time. Considering she was so good at it every other time, Laxus wasn't sure what to make of that. Just waited. It was only mere seconds, but it felt like minutes.

Then again, he was still pantsless, so…

"Did you...did you want me to go with you?" Mira asked softly once a good minute had passed. "To the conference? So you don't have to go alone?"

"As what? A babysitter?"

She shrugged. "I'm whatever you need me to be when you need me to be it. Remember? Master?"

"Yeah," he said with a curt nod. "I remember."

Still, they were both there, in that room, and it seemed bigger before, but rather tight then. There was nothing left to say, really, so that should have been the end of it, but it wasn't. And even though he'd read the room so wrongly before, Laxus knew then what was up.

After all, a man of his (self assumed) caliber, he definitely wouldn't strike out twice.

Especially not with the same woman.

He really couldn't even explain it. Things were in motion before he comprehended them. It was like he'd gone from being horribly mortified to confused to totally making out with Mirajane Strauss, which usually, would be awesome because, well, she was Mirajane Strauss, but that tinge of something else was there. The acknowledgment of how weird it all was. How weird everything was. How-

And she was unbuttoning his shirt with one hand.

How had it all happened again?

It was more of Mirajane's doing that time, honestly, as she'd been the one to advance on him that time. The slayer, unlike her, had no inhibitions about such a thing and was more than ready for it.

For someone who'd never given any serious thought to boning Mirajane Strauss, he was suddenly very serious about boning Mirajane Strauss.

Because whether she'd admit to it or not, he wasn't imagining that tension. He just wasn't. There was something about Laxus having power over her, about Master Makarov just handing the guild over to him without any second guessing, forever sealing the slayer's place in Fairy Tail, that just...aggravated _her_.

Which wasn't right, of course. There was no other that wanted the hall, honestly. Not even Erza, though others kept attempting to push her off to the position. And Gildarts and Macao both had already forfeited it once. Perhaps Freed would be good at running it, but he'd certainly forgo it to Laxus. And Natsu, one day, maybe, but definitely not for another, oh, half a century.

Laxus was the obvious choice, short of an outside hire. But it still just _irked_ her for some reason.

Maybe, probably, because, somewhere deep down...Mira had thought that Makarov was going to hand it over to her.

She had, after all, been the one to clean up all his messes. Watch over things while he was away. She knew all the ins and outs as well as the in betweens. She was, for all intents and purposes, his right hand woman.

But there he was, overlooking her.

Of course, it could be argued, that Mirajane had never rightfully told the man that she wanted such thing. Never hinted at it. Not even to her siblings or friends. But how could she? Without coming off as presumptuous?

So yes, fine, Mirajane had purposely screwing Laxus over by neglecting to take care of the janitorial and filing duties. Not because he rejected her Soup Saturdays and Fried Food Fridays. Perhaps that was a catalyst, but certainly not the kinetic energy that set it all in motion. Rather it was some sort of childish jealousy that the Master, her master, Makarov, fathomed that Laxus was a better leader than her. That he chose him over her. That...that he loved him more than her.

Not that Laxus cared about her reasoning. At all. That she was feeling some sort of resentment turned attraction. Whatever. Women were complicated. Sleeping with them, however, was not.

"Mmmm," he hummed as they tumbled back into the bed. His boxers were down at his ankles and his shirt was hanging loosely off his shoulders, but he felt rather warm. "Can you call me your master? I've always kinda-"

"Shut up, Laxus." And Mirajane's tone had no play in it. "Before you ruin it."

Definitely didn't want that. Not at all.

He was going to be late, it donned on him, at one point, before he remembered that he didn't care. Err, rather, he did. Sort of. He wanted to make an impression. On the others. Quite frequently, the changing of hands in a guild meant it's decline. Not with him, however. Fairy Tail would continue to reign as the top guild for the next century if he could help it. No matter how many stones were thrown at it, the enigma had always endured. Under him, it would soar.

But...he could make that point another day. Another night. Of the convention. Or the next convention. Whatever. What he had going on at the moment was far more important.

Far.

It wasn't for Mirajane though. Not once it'd started. In fact, about half way through, the regret was already there and, by the end of it, she could think of nothing else. Laxus just laid there, sated on the bed, eyes closed, as she buried her head in one of the pillows, completely abashed.

"I hope," the slayer slurred out at one point with a really goofy grin that wasn't fitting of the man typically, "that I'm the first Master you did that for."

"Shut up, Laxus."

"I'm just kiddin'." And he was rolling onto his side then, moving closer to her. Mirajane shoved him away though. "What's wrong? Not ready to go again? Because I-"

"You have a meeting."

"Fuck the meeting." Then his sneer grew. "Fuck you, more like it. C'mere, Mira. I-"

"I'm serious. _Enough_."

"Alright, damn, woman." And he was finished with her then. Just like that. Sitting up, he shook his head for a moment before moving to climb out of bed. "Never mind."

Mira only laid there though, refusing to watch him as he first went into the bathroom to clean up a bit before going to his bag to retrieve a cigar.

"You cannot," she complained as he came right back to bed, still nude, to smoke it, "be serious."

"What? A man can't enjoy a cigar? Damn, you're annoying." Puff. "For someone that was just _writhing_ a minute ago." Another puff. Then a sigh. "You know, here I was, kind enough to brighten up your day like this, and you just-"

"Do not," Mira told him, tone low, "think that you're back in the position of power, Dreyar."

"Master."

"You do, don't you?"

He shrugged. Then puffed. "I was never out of it."

"Sure."

"I wasn't. I- Hey!"

Mirajane had sat up suddenly, giving him a nice view of her beautiful naked body with the sunset outside providing matching lighting, and snatched his cigar from his hand. To his surprise, she didn't go to put it out. Just took a long drag before blowing the smoke back in his face.

"I thought you said those stink?" he complained.

"They do." Puff. "Extremely."

Heh.

Sitting up straighter, Laxus said, "So what then, woman?"

"Hmmm?"

"What happens now?" he asked. "Because I thought that we were good before."

"Perfect."

"Yeah," he said with a nod. "I thought we were perfect. But now this-"

"This," she told him, gesturing around with the hand that was holding his prized cigar, "stays here. Tonight. It doesn't follow us back to Magnolia. It can't. But what I said before? It does. It's that simple."

Laxus only moved to retrieve his cigar.

That simple.

Sure.

"The night's young," he told her after a drag of his own. When Mirajane made a face at him, he added, "Just saying."

"Yeah, well, this one's ending, so-"

"I ain't gonna beg you to stay, woman." Puff. "If that's what you're angling for."

She wasn't angling for anything. She was, honestly, disappointed with herself. Extremely. And had no real mechanism for such an oversight of judgment. One night stands are one thing; sleeping with someone from a guild even was different. But Laxus? And, more importantly, her current employer? That just spelled idiotic, if not downright problematic.

"Although," Laxus went on and Mirajane could just tell, his swagger was back. Fully. His ego had been fractured, no doubt, by her clear distaste of him the past few weeks. Now though he felt as if he'd righted it. His world was straight again. Hallelujah. "I could go for a blow."

"You're disgusting."

"You're into it," he accused with such a stupid grin that Mirajane just had to…

Ugh.

Puff. "You know, Mirajane, I always kinda had a thing for you."

"What?"

He'd caught her off guard and only nodded.

"Not in a creepy way," he was quick to add. It had already been brought up, the underage thing, and, well, he wasn't one to toy with that. "I've just always thought you were interesting. More so then the others. Even before your sister-"

"If you don't stop bring that up-"

"What? You gonna kick my butt?" Then he wagged his eye brows. "Or kiss it?"

Defeated, she fell forward once more, hiding her face in the pillow, apparently forgetting that she could just get up and walk out at any time.

Puff. "It doesn't have to just be tonight, you know."

"Yes," came her muffled voice from it's place in the pillow, "it does."

"No, I mean, yeah, it ain't comin' back to Fairy Tail with us, but, you know, we are both here. For the time being. Until we go back home. And I don't really need to make any of those meetings. Do I?"

She burrowed deeper in the pillow. "I hate you."

"Careful now, woman. You might start hurtin' my feelin's over here."

Turning her head then to stare over at him, she said, "Did you plan this?"

"No. What? Not at all." And he was speaking truthfully then. For once. "I brought you out here to fix things. I mean, I had no idea that it would lead to all this, but hey; I ain't complainin'."

"You can't tell anyone," she told him then. "I'm serious, Laxus. It would make me out to be...to… Like I only slept with you because you're the Master. Like I'm trying to get in good with you."

"If that's how you are every time," he said, "keep trying. Please."

"Would you be serious?"

"What, Mirajane?" He stared over at her then. "We've both decided that after this, we'll be, what was it? Perfect? Okay then. Great. Whatever happens between now and then means nothing. Why be serious? Like I want people to know that I slept with someone in my guild? Yeah, like that'll look good for me. Sure." Puff. "But as it stands right now, we did it. We slept together. And it was magical."

"Laxus."

"It was good," he corrected, trying to be at least somewhat serious, since she wanted him to be so badly. "Really."

"Shut up."

"But it is what it is." Puff. "Just sex. That I'd like some more of. And I was serious about that Master thing, by the way."

For all the animosity that the woman had felt towards the man before, it had never been as much as she held then. It almost felt like downright contempt, really.

Which didn't explain why she didn't leave. And even stayed for the dinner of room service he offered. And why it was somehow alright with her that she didn't make it back to her room that night.

If it was any consolation, however, she did combat with him quite a bit. Although...he sorta...seemed to...get off on it. And for all she'd told him that women did not, he observed that she did as well.

Heh.

"You sleep weird," Laxus told her early the next morning. "You know that? All curled up in a ball and-"

"Is it morning?" she mumbled, mostly still unconscious. "Laxus?"

"Sun ain't up yet, but just about, yeah."

"Mmmm."

Shifting onto his side, he stared down at her. "You gonna get up? Take a shower? Or somethin'?"

"Mmmm."

"I could order us up breakfast if you-"

"You have got," she groaned out, not opening her eyes, "to go to one of those meetings. At least. There's a breakfast this morning with-"

"Nah. I'm more into this."

"Into what? I'm going back to my room and-"

"Getting your stuff and coming back here." She was certain there was an eye brow wag, but didn't feel like opening her eyes to look. "And pinnin' me down some more."

"You _liked_ that?"

"A whole lot." He snickered. "You naughty demon."

It was too early for her to argue with him. Far too early.

"Besides," he went on. "I don't have to go to-"

"People saw you check in."

"And?"

"And we used the guild's money to come here."

"So?"

"So you have to go."

"Uh...nah."

"Laxus-"

"Master. You hear that? Bar wench."

Ugh.

Rolling onto her back, Mirajane stared blankly up at the ceiling. "I'm serious about this being over when we get back to Magnolia."

He gave her his best shit eating grin. "So am I."

And he was. They both were. Because there was no way that the other could admit that they had slept (many, many, _many_ times) with the other. Laxus because, well, the last thing he wanted was a reputation for sleeping with his underlings and Mirajane because he was her boss. And that just opened a whole can of worms that neither wanted to get into.

Only it wasn't that easy. Not by a long shot. Mainly because Laxus had, as he told her many times, overly enjoyed himself.

"I'm mean, you weren't my best. Don't kid yourself, woman."

"I really don't care."

"But definitely top three. And the only one of the three that will talk to me anymore."

"Hardly even that."

Heh.

Mirajane frequently told him that they weren't supposed to talk about it, but she made it so damn hard. He wanted to put it out of his mind, put her out of his mind, but it was impossible. The damn woman had taken to heart what had gone on before the kissing (and sexing) incident, about her getting back to taking proper care of the hall. And her Master.

Which meant barging into his office to do filing and sticking around after closing to tidy up and damn it, they didn't even make it a week before they fucked in his office.

Although, again, that one was more on Mirajane than him. To be the one that kept insisting to him that they couldn't, she sure seemed to be the aggressor in most cases.

Which wasn't wholly bad.

Just in all the good ways.

"When," he mumbled once, about three months into their _not_ sleeping together thing where they didn't for a long time (a week, tops) before they couldn't take it and just sorta went at it after hours, "is the next conference?"

She was on his desk, with him before her, out of breath as she rested her head against his chest.

"A few months."

"We gotta make it. If we can make it." He bowed his own head, nuzzling against hers. "And is it weird if I totally had a date tonight, but canceled it to stick around after closing because I was pretty sure we were going to screw?"

"Laxus, shut up." She didn't even open her eyes. "Please."

Heh.

Outside of those little tidbits, however, the slayer was quite busy in the other aspects of running his guild. It was no easy feat, after all. And Freed, Bickslow, and Ever helped a bunch, sure, but a lot of it, by design, fell onto his shoulders. He was under quite a lot of pressure.

And Mirajane, well, the hall was busy as ever and she had all of that to deal with. The last thing that she wanted drug into the light was her relationship with Laxus, which weighed heavy on her as well, and she just wanted it to end and told him that frequently, constantly, and prayed that it did, until they'd be alone in the office and oh, wow, did he change colognes or something because, wow, she just had to have him and, ugh, she was weak, so, so weak, but it was okay, because he was too, to her, weak to the she-devil, but he was embracing it and she was resisting it and whatever happened to just making soup for her master? Instead of sleeping with him?

Laxus rather liked the intrigue of it all and, eventually, it just became a game to him. A fun one. Usually after the thrill of the chase wore off, so did his interest, but with Mirajane, it was a constant chase. And one that he didn't even have to spend any real jewels on!

It was too good to be true.

But then, the best things were.

He could tell, of course, when it began to wear thin on Mirajane. After about six months, it wasn't fun for her. Not that it ever had been, really, but before it had been some sort of passion. Resentment. She'd been angry at Makarov, due to Laxus, channeled it into attraction, and took it out on the slayer. As time went on it, obviously, began to wane and, honestly, she wasn't even upset about it anymore. Laxus was a fine master. And she'd never asked for her turn and you can't receive what you don't acknowledge.

On that end of things, it was over for the she-devil.

And Laxus tried hard to play it off, when she ended it. Truly ended it. Refused him. He tried to make like it didn't bother him. Because it shouldn't have. They were just sex. If that. Really just boss and employee. Before he went and muddied the waters.

Finally, they could go back to normal.

For what it was worth, it had been fun.

Except it ate at him. Slowly. In fact, he honestly thought that he was over it too, that it had been a fun little fling to, maybe, one day revisit. Nothing more. He and Mirajane, as they were, were perfect.

And hadn't they always been?

But it always kinda daunted him when he'd find out that she'd traded shifts with Kinana or Lisanna, to go out with some guy. Or asked one of them to do the filing because she wasn't up for it. And she didn't go on anymore conferences with him. Because he needed to meet with the other Masters; others would begin to ask questions.

He'd been the Master for a little over a year when he did it. Took care of it. Got tired of feeling that weird little tug and just accepted it. Did something about it.

Mirajane, however, completely misunderstood.

"I told you, Master," she said in that all business tone as she closed up one night, them being the only two around. "We're done with that part of our-"

"I didn't ask if you wanted to fuck, woman," he complained as he stood before the bar, arms crossed, just as vulgar as he felt the need to be. "I asked if you would like to go out with me. On a date."

And Mirajane lost count of the jewels in her hand, but that was fine, as she turned her eyes to stare up at him.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." He was staring her in her eyes. "I want… I don't know, Mira. I just thought that we had something."

"We had sex."

"A lot."

"In common, I meant," she corrected with a frown. "Literally nothing else."

"That's the thing though; how do you know that? We never even explored it. That's why you date, isn't it? To find that sorta stuff out?"

"That's why _I_ date," she said, going back to the jewels in her palm. "You on the other hand-"

"You can just say no, Mirajane, if you want." He shrugged. "I ain't gonna beg you. Or force you. But just know that I ain't talkin' about hidin' shit. That's not what I want this time. It was fun before, for me, but it clearly got old for you. So let's try something that's good for us both. And fuck the others. I ain't sleepin' with the whole guild. I'm sleeping with you. And you're not sleeping with me to, like, get to the top or whatever. Hell, you had Gramps eating out of your palm and look where that got you!"

He was, unconsciously, rehashing the original reason she'd slept with him, but she ignored it.

"So don't worry about it. I mean, shit, Mirajane," he went on. "I never once thought that you were the type to give a shit about that sorta stuff. What others think of you. That's why I always thought you were cool. And if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. We're big boys and girls, aren't we? You said it yourself that you wanted to get out of the barmaid side of things for awhile, so if it doesn't work out, and we can't deal, you can quit and take your guitar and be just fine. I mean-"

"If I say yes," she cut him off, finally, "will you shut up?"

He paused. Then, silently, he nodded.

"Fine. One date." Finally, she was able to start counting again. "Now let me finish closing up. I want to go home at some point, you know."

Laxus just bowed his head slightly, before walking off, for the office, leaving her to the end of her duties. And once he was out of sight, Mirajane let out a long held breath.

If they weren't hiding things, then what did that mean, exactly?

That he was mentioning it to the Thunder God Tribe, apparently. Who, of course, mentioned it to others and man, Mira sure liked it on the other side of the gossip. Far more than she liked being gossiped about. Usually when she had a first date, she was at least able to be excited and talk to Lucy about it and Lisanna and it was just so amazing.

With Laxus though, things were different. Because they knew him, Lisanna and Lucy. And didn't understand it. At all. But Mirajane didn't hold it against them; she didn't either.

When the night rolled around and they met for dinner it was...awkward, really, but nice. Nothing spectacular. At all. And she could tell that Laxus thought it would be. That he'd probably built the whole thing up in his mind. They had, after all, had a good few months there of a great connection on the physical side of things; he'd (wrongfully) assumed that it would carry right over into the mental.

It didn't.

At least not in a fantastical way.

"I had a nice time," she offered up to Laxus that night as he walked her home. "Really."

"You don't have to play all innocent with me, woman," he grumbled simply, walking right along beside her. "I saw you as the demon. Remember?"

If she wasn't who she was and so great at playing that innocuous character she'd built around herself, she might have blushed. Instead, she only reminded him, "That didn't happen, Laxus. None of that did. Or did you forget?"

Never. He just chose to remember what she wished to bury.

Still, everyone at the hall was super annoying about it and, ugh, was she that bad? When some part of their personal life was interesting to her? She felt as if she was, but at the same time, was pretty sure she'd realize if she was being that intrusive.

Wouldn't she?

Eventually that all died down, of course, and that was when Laxus chose to strike again. He did it in the most casual way ever, the second time he asked her out. The day wasn't even over and her sister was actually behind the bar with her when it happened. He was that forward.

So Mirajane played it off, as Lisanna just stood there, shocked, and casually said she'd have to check her schedule, but perhaps they could catch a play together, maybe, the next week.

She was able to play it off, too, the third time he asked her, which was that next week, in the middle of their train ride back to Magnolia after catching that horrible play a few towns over that she was pretty certain he detested.

And by that fourth one, well, she was kinda sorta sleeping with him again, so casual was just sorta thrown in there, guildhall and its members feelings on the subject be damned.

But yes, assuming the questions was if Mirajane ever became accustomed to calling him Master and faithfully standing by his side, of course. Just as he learned to suck down those godawful soups and shut up about it. As well as accept when his Thursdays got turned into Tabletop Thursdays (where they would clean all the tables, top and, deceivingly so, bottom in the hall) and his Saturdays turned into Salsa Saturdays (again, deceiving, as he wrongfully assumed there would be chips and delicious dips involved, but sadly, there was only dancing, dreadful dancing).

And even though Makarov was gone as the Master, slowly both Mirajane and Laxus learned to love the new and all it entailed.

 


End file.
